Fountain brush



H- W. HEMPEL FOUNTAIN BRUSH Aug. 24, 1954 Filed Aug. 3; 1949 PatentedAug. 24, 1954 UNITED STATES PATENT orifice FOUNTAIN BRUSH Herbert NV.

Hempel, Belleville, Ill., assigner to Marsh Stencil Machine Company,Belleville, Ill., a corporation of Illinois Application August 3, 1949,Serial No. 108,281

` (o1. i- 139) l Therefore, an object of the present inventionl is toprovide a novel general purpose fountain brush which incorporates aone-piece valve, guide and bristle holding ferrule. i

Another object is to provide a novel general purpose fountain brushconstructed to apply liquid to applicator bristles readily and through ashort path to minimize trapped liquid on the exhaust side of the valveand to eliminate bristle flooding on closing of the brush valve.

Another object is to provide a novel general purpose fountain brush inwhich the valve seat is positioned at the extreme lower end of thehousing to give immediate fluid-bristles contact.

Another object is to provide a novel general purpose fountainbrush inwhich a spring biasing the valve into closed relation limits the valveopening to avoidflooding through compressing into solid relation.

Another object is to provide a novel general purpose fountain brush inwhich the guide portion of the one-piece valve, guide and ferrulecontacts the housing at spaced points and permits passage of liquid inany position.

Another object is to provide a novel general purpose fountain brushconstructed to incorporate a replaceable closed end liquid reservoir ofany standard or selected design.

Another object is to provide a novel general purpose fountain brushwhich is adapted to be used with a Wide variety of fluids and fornumerous purposes.

Another object is to provide a novel general purpose fountain brushwhich is inexpensive to manufacture, which may be readily employed to`apply any selected fluid, which is simple inconstruction renderingcleaning and maintenance quick and sure, which is adapted to be used formany applications Without mechanical failure, and which presents a neatappearance.

The foregoing and other objects and advantages are apparent from thefollowing descripcomprehends a one-piece valve,`

tion taken with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Fig. l is a side elevational View of a general purpose fountain brushconstructed in accordance with the teachings of the present invention;

Fig. 2 is an enlarged diametric cross-sectional view on substantiallythe line 2-2 of Fig. 1; and

Fig, 3 is a transverse cross-sectional View on substantially the line3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring to the drawing more particularly by reference numerals, I0indicates generally a general purpose fountain brush incorporating theconcepts of the present invention which includes a uid reservoir handleI2 open at one end and closed `at the other end, a housing I4, aonepiece valve, guide bristle ferrule lli, a compression spring I8, awasher 20, and bristles 22.

The one-piece valve, guide and bristle ferrule It includes a cylindricalbody 24, a frusto-conical valve portion 26 preferably sloped at thirtydegrees, and a guide flange 28 shown as of hexagonal form, the points ofwhich slidingly engage the interior of the housing I4. The bristles 22extend into the body 24. The valve portion 26 may be formed as a portionof a sphere.

The housing I4 includes an elongated cylindrical portion 30 of` smallinternal diameter and a short cylindrical portion 32 of larger internaldiameter which are connected by a frusto-conical portion `Sli. `Theportion 34 includes an annular shelf 36 at its upper end which receivesthe washer 20. Thel portion `32 has internalthreads 38 which receiveexternal threads 40 at the open end of the reservoir-handle I2. The freeedge of the open end of the reservoir-handle I2 engages the washer 20 toeffect a seal. The washer `2l] has an opening 42 for passage of iiuidfrom the reservoir-handle I2 into the housing I4. The Washer 2|] is heldin assembled position by a press t, crimp, or adhesive, so that it willnot be spring ejected or fall out when the reservoir handle I2 isremoved for filling or replacement.

The portion 30 of the housing I4 includes an opening 44 and a thirtydegree slope valve seat 46. The one-piece valve, guide and bristleferrule I6 is disposed within the portion 3u with the valve portion 26biased into engagement with the valve seat 46 by the spring I 8, one endof which engages the underside of the washer 20 and the other end thetop of the guide iiange 2S. The bristles 22 extend through the opening44.

For a small fountain brush I0 of the actual size as shown in Fig. 1, itis desirable that full compression of the spring I8 permits longitudinaltravel of the one-piece valve, guide and bristle ferrule I6 ofapproximately one-sixteenth of an inch. Manifestly, this travel may bechanged to suit particular applications of the brush I0.

In operation, a selected liquid is poured in the reservoir-handle I2 andthe housing I4 with its several contained elements, as illustrated inFig. 2, is screwed onto the open end thereof. The brush I0 is thendisposed with the bristles 22 depending. The liquid will ow from thereservoir-handle I2 through the opening d2 into the housing i4, thencepast the flange 28 and around the body 24. Pressure of the free ends ofthe bristles 22 against any surface when thus held in depending positionwill lift the vvalve portion 29 from the valve seat 46 and permit liquidto flow onto the bristles 22 by the short path only slightly greaterthan the depth of the valve portion 26. Air will replace dischargedliquid. Upon release of the pressure at the ends of the bristles 22, asby lifting the brush I0, or releasing down- Ward pressure, the spring I8will quickly seat the valve portion 2t with minimum trapped liquid. Asis clear from the drawing, the guide flange 28 Vserves to center thevalve portion 2B. As stated above, total compression of the spring i8acts as a stop to prevent raising of the valve portion 2S more than apredetermined distance, thereby eliminating undue flooding of thebristles 22, but permitting adequate flow for heavy liquid application.

The reservoir-handle I2 is shown as of cylindrical form and of plasticfor observation of its contents. A standard lled container of glass orother material and of any desired configuration may be employed.

1t is manifest that the fountain brush i9 may be used for many purposes,such as the application of paints, coatings, liquid cleaners and spotremovers, adhesives, shoe polishes, tool room bluing solutions, water,ink, and a host of other liquids.

Palpably, there has been provided a general purpose fountain brush whichfulfills the objects and advantages sought therefor.

it is to be understood that the foregoing description and theaccompanying drawing have been given by way of illustration and example.

4it is also to be understood that changes in form of the elements,rearrangement of parts, and substitution of equivalent elements, whichwill be obvious to those skilled in the art, are contemplated as withinthe scope of the present invention which is limited only by the claimswhich follow.

What is claimed is:

1. A fountain brush comprising, in combination, an elongated housingmember having a passageway therethrough, said passageway being formed toprovide a circular discharge opening at one end of the housing, acircular inlet opening at the other end of the lhousing, and anelongated cylindrical passage interconnecting said openings, saiddischarge opening being smaller in diameter than any other portion ofsaid passageway, said cylindrical passage being intermediate in diameterbetween said openings, said passageway being further formed to provide acircular Valve seat immediately adjacent said discharge opening, aferrule member disposed in said cylindrical passage and being coaxiallymovable therein, said ferrule member having one of its ends shaped forvalving engagement with said valve seat and the other of its ends shapedfor peripherally spaced slidable engagement with the walls of saidcylindrical passage, a plurality of bristles secured in said ferrule andextending beyond said one end thereof and through said dischargeopening, a washer secured in said/inlet opening, a compression springinterposed between said ferrule member and said washer for biasing theformer toward said valve seat, and a fluid reservoir removably Connectedto said inlet v opening.

2. The combination of claim l wherein the bristles are formed into acircular bundle, said bundle being in continuous slidable engagementwith said discharge opening.

3.v The combination of claim 1 wherein the convolutions of the springare so spaced as to provide only a predetermined limited coaxialmovement of the ferrule before the spring is compressed to a minimumlength.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS NumberName Date Re. 8,802 MacKinnon July 15, 1879 33,986 Fowler Dec. 24, 1861257,312 Gaynor et al. May 2, 1882 618,845 Crosby Feb. 7, 1899 V748,383Langill Dec. 29, 1903 1,670,458 Le Boeuf May 22, 1925 1,731,250 McAtreeOct. 15, 1929 1,791,350 Caron Feb. 3, 193i 1,857,467 Marsh May 10, 19322,008,454 Klein July 16, 1935 2,259,931 Grflith Oct. 2l, 1941 2,299,627Hunter et al. Oct. 20, 1942 2,429,003 Trapet Oct. 14, 1947 2,456,687Dominguez Dec. 21, 1948

